All I Want for Christmas is

You may have seen this WestJet Christmas Miracle video. Santa asks boarding passengers “What do you want for Christmas this year?” A kid says he wants a train set. His dad laughs and says he wants a big TV. Their Christmas requests are secretly being transmitted to corporate headquarters, and as the plane takes off, dozens of WestJet employees scamper off with checklists and credit cards to make these holiday wishes come true. Two hours later, when the passengers land, what should appear at baggage claim but every item every passenger had requested?

About 35 million people have watched the video. Most people found it “heartwarming,” “brilliant,” or “awesome.” One commenter opined, “FANTASTIC! LIKE LIKE LIKE UNTIL DEATH :)))”

I found it totally depressing, how conditioned we are to articulate our desires in terms of stuff.

At 3:44, a woman unwraps a Samsung Galaxy. At 3:57, a dude gets the socks and underwear he asked for. He’s undoubtedly kicking himself for not asking for an Android Tablet, which a grinning kid walks away with at 4:03.

Then the camera pulls back, the music swells, there’s a dramatic pause, and out of the luggage carousel comes…wait for it…the climax of the video…a big TV. Wild applause.

I keep thinking about that dude who asked for, and got, the socks and underwear. Is he filled with regret? Does he lie awake at night wondering why he didn’t ask for the big TV?

And so long as he’s lying awake at night, does he keep on wondering? What should he have asked Santa for before he got on the plane? If he’d known there was a whole team of people dedicated to making whatever he wished for come true, what would he have wished for? What does he really want?

If Santa shows up in your life and asks you what you want – and if you knew that there’s a team of two dozen elves totally dedicated to making your wish come true – what would you say?

You probably won’t say, “socks and underwear.” Or “a big TV.” No one wants to look back on the viral video of their life and, as the music swells, have the climactic moment be that time they got a big TV.

If you got into the guts of what you really want, you might say to Santa that you want “to feel strong, confident, and competent.” Or “to be in love.” Or “to know why I’ve been put on this earth.”

Before we start making goals for the new year, it’s probably best to first answer the Santa question, “What do you want?” Meaning, if you knew that two dozen elves are going to be sent off to help make it happen, what would you ask for?

More later about building the kind of life where you do, in fact, have two dozen elves dedicated to fulfilling your deepest desires. For now, suffice to say that Queerfit is here to be one of those magic elves. It’ll be a warm 61 degrees tomorrow morning at 10:00. See you then!